That's two top pair d-men at their peak, one second pair d-men, one second line winger, a bunch of 3rd/4th liners, a couple of 3rd pair d-men, and no goalies.
Yeah, that's a pile of trash. It looks like a list from a pre-Vegas expansion draft.
Nieuwendyk's tenure was absolutely terrible. You spend a few years in bankruptcy at the cap floor, and then you go to the draft every year and get nothing. That's bad.
I think it was MK88 who long ago pointed out that Niewy wasn't as bad as it seemed. A dozen players with hundreds of games is a decent measure. We are misled by the true mess up on his first pick, Glennie.
That said, games played in the NHL aren't the greatest measure. Sure, if we believe most coaches play according to merit most of the time, it measures NHL level talent. It doesn't measure NHL star talent. Niewy drafted below average (or near it) and the team suffered.
Nill has a few bad years and a few bad breaks (Nuke not busting out until he busted out of here) but most hockey folks call the drafts from 2015 (Hintz, Guri?) through last year one of the best draft runs ever, and with a minimum of lottery luck.
Throw in exciting trades in the first three years for Seguin, Spezza, Sharp, and Johns, and it has been pretty exciting. I simply believe we ought to enjoy the success rather than make ourselves miserable by hypothetical "what could have beens" in 20/20 hindsight.
I have my draft guide open and will be ready to see if he continues his good run of drafting (yes, last year is a question mark but time will tell.)
